What is brighter: Halogen or Xenon

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Photon

Photon

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Apr 24, 2001
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I was in the hardware store and found some replacement bulbs for a 6V lantern.

They had Xenon bulbs that were 2 for $5. Another store had a similar bulb in Halogen for $7 each.

Cost is not always a reliable indicator of quality (or lumens).

Does anyone know if Xenon or Halogen will put out more light?

Thanks,
KR
 
well, that depends on what stage in it's life you look at the light it produces. A Xenon bulb can be brighter at first, but will eventually blacken from the inside, as tungsten deposits build up.
A Halogen bulb will, on the other hand, stay completely clear throughout its life, but will have a lower output from the start, as the pressure of the gas-mixture cannot be as high as in a pure Xenon bulb.

Surefire bulbs do have a compromise between these two possibilities, so they will eventually darken towards the end of their live, but will be brighter in the rest of their life.

Timmo.
 
varies by comparison...

First we have to reduce the concept of "xenon" and "halogen" to a proper level for most comparisons: Marketing Buzzwords.

Then, realize that the fill gas for a bulb is far more complicated than can be described in any single word. Often the marketing buzzword chosen for the package will have something to do with the fill gas used for that bulb, however, it doesn't tell the whole story.

It's possible to use both heavy xenon gases and halogens in the same bulb to complement each-other. The heavy xenon gas reduces the rate of tungsten evaporating, while the halogen picks up where the xenon leaves off and works to re-deposit tungsten back on the filament.

The brighter one will be the one with the lower life rating. Very often a consumer/commercial xenon bulb will be designed with a 6,000-20,000 hour target life and will not actually be brighter when driven to spec than a 2,000 hour rated halogen.

-Eric
 
As far as I know Surefire lamp assemblies use halogen and a small amount of xenon. The xenon improves the lamp life.

I believe the Maglite "xenon" assemblies are harder driven counterparts to the krypton bulbs, with xenon added to extend their life.
 
life extension depends on alot of things

type of gas
concentration of gas
quality of envelope
driving current
...
etc.

Its the temperature that's important to initiate and sustain the tungsten recycling process.
A 100% xenon filled envelope driven under spec and therefore cold won't have the same life as say...a 25% xenon 75% Krypton lamp driven to spec.

Based on life alone...the regular mag lamp [krypton] lasts much longer than the Mag-Num star [xenon] because the xenons designed to draw more current but fails to acknowledge that alkaline's will yield to that type of current draw, and therefore most of its life its driven colder than the krypton.
 
Illum said:
life extension depends on alot of things

type of gas
concentration of gas
quality of envelope
driving current
...
etc.

Its the temperature that's important to initiate and sustain the tungsten recycling process.
A 100% xenon filled envelope driven under spec and therefore cold won't have the same life as say...a 25% xenon 75% Krypton lamp driven to spec.

Based on life alone...the regular mag lamp [krypton] lasts much longer than the Mag-Num star [xenon] because the xenons designed to draw more current but fails to acknowledge that alkaline's will yield to that type of current draw, and therefore most of its life its driven colder than the krypton.
Click to expand...

There is no voltage rating on my Maglite bulbs. I always assumed the Maglite xenon bulbs were slightly lower voltage counterparts to the krypton models, similiar to the Surefire HOLA and LOLA's.
 
ampdude said:
There is no voltage rating on my Maglite bulbs.
Click to expand...

maglites does that....and I know exactly why. But I'm having trouble explaining it without telling a funny story.

A little while ago I visited ACE hardware for some L brackets. Here comes this gentleman who wanted to find a replacement lamp for his 2D eveready but complains that 2D kryptons sitting on the shelf isn't the ones he needs after looking at it very closely. The associate asks him what was the reason and he pulled a D cell out of his pocket and pointed at it. "it says 1.5V, two of them would make 3V." The sales associate looks at him then says "so?" The gentleman took one of those krypton packages, angled it then pointed towards the associate "see what I mean? it reads 2.4V 0.24A! Two D cells will burn it out." The associate countered "read this, it says 'for 2D cell flashlights' on it." The gentleman turned red, then green, then raised his voice "Do you believe every word it reads? I have a multimeter in the car, you want me to prove it to you that 2D reads 3V?!"

Sometimes people like to have things handed to them on a silver plate:whistle:
 
Illum,

That's exactly right :)

For the same reason SureFire doesn't call a P90 a "7.5V" bulb :) Even though that is pretty much what it is.

I wish I could have been there to butt in and give a short lecture.
 
I once had a 12 volt lantern with a screw post battery connection. It worked great.

Then I put it on a 12 volt regulated power supply. It worked great, for a few minutes.

Then the bulb burned out.

Live and learn.
 
Illum said:
The associate asks him what was the reason and he pulled a D cell out of his pocket and pointed at it. "it says 1.5V, two of them would make 3V." The sales associate looks at him then says "so?" The gentleman took one of those krypton packages, angled it then pointed towards the associate "see what I mean? it reads 2.4V 0.24A! Two D cells will burn it out." The associate countered "read this, it says 'for 2D cell flashlights' on it." The gentleman turned red, then green, then raised his voice "Do you believe every word it reads? I have a multimeter in the car, you want me to prove it to you that 2D reads 3V?!"
Click to expand...

I don't get it :(
 
The irony in that story is, the guy is right. You can't believe things word for word these days.

A Peanut is neither a pea or a nut
A "1.5V" alkaline battery will never behave like a 1.5V cell under load
A "1.2V" NiMH battery is more like 1.4V fully charged
A "12V" lead acid is really 13.8V, 10.8V is dead, 15V is too much
A "3.6V" li-ion must be treated as 4.2V when topped off and dead at 3V
If you drive a 2D krypton set to 3V on your bench supply, it'll burn out...in fact if you drive the minimag AA lamp on 4 D cells in 2S2P configuration you'll see the same thing happen.
 
Back on topic:)

I know carley and sf uses halogen in their xenon's/ xenon in their halogens despite the fact that most bulb makers use argon in their halogens. What other companies use halogen + xenon?

Also how are the wa, rop and streamlight (tl-3 and strion) filled?
 
lolzertank said:
Under load, Alkaline D cells are about 1.2V most of their life, not 1.5V. So 2 of them won't stay at 3V for too long before the voltage sags to about 2.4V.
Click to expand...

Of course this varies soooooo much depending on how much load. A small load (very low current draw bulb or LED) will not drop the voltage of the alkaline cells by much and they will work quite well. Under a large load (like the ~2A ROP low or ~4A ROP High) the alkaline cells would probably sag to under 1.2V instantly and very quickly drop below 1.0V. Alkaline cells are NOT suitable for high drain uses!
 
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